Jiejie
Hearing her call out ‘Jiejie’ again and again without cease…
Lu Zhenqiu, of course, couldn’t guess Jin Shuilan’s Sanshui1 ID. She tried saying a few related to novels, but all were vetoed. In her view, Jin Shuilan’s ID might be of a romantic style, like wind, flowers, snow, and moon2, or it could be of a grand style, like golden dagger-axes and iron-clad horses3. Because Jin Shuilan’s writing style was exactly like this, a sweetness wrapped around a knife, something she was especially skilled at.
Jin Shuilan listened to the IDs she listed and shook her head, saying: “It’s none of those. Actually, I haven’t registered yet.”
Lu Zhenqiu looked up at her for two seconds, then nodded. Jin Shuilan didn’t seem like the type who enjoyed listening to livestreams, so not having a registered account was very understandable. She said: “Then next time Teacher Jin comes to my livestream room and wants to hear a song, I’ll sing it for you.”
After speaking, she opened her mouth again: “No need to register, you can just send it to me on WeChat.”
Was this considered a special privilege opened for her?
Jin Shuilan smiled: “Alright.”
After finishing their meal, Jin Shuilan went to throw out the trash and, along the way, took Maomao for a walk. Lu Zhenqiu returned to her livestream room and saw the group chat message continuously flashing. She clicked it open and saw Hua Luo complaining: 【How can there be this kind of person? What’s so f#cking awesome about her Yu Wen, just because she’s written a theme, I can’t write it? Truly outrageous. She even sent me a private message, saying I’m suspected of plagiarism?】
Xiao Yu looked at the screenshot and cursed a phrase: 【Stupid c#nt.】4
Lu Zhenqiu saw the screenshot was of a Weibo private message. She knew Hua Luo had opened a new story5, but hadn’t expected it to be the same theme as Yu Wen’s. Originally, the theme was of no great matter6, but receiving this private message was very aggravating.
Anyone in this situation would curse a phrase: “Are you crazy.”
Lu Zhenqiu comforted Hua Luo. Xiao Yu cursed and grumbled: 【What kind of f#cking awesome7 author is Yu Wen? She started a theme so you can’t start it? That’s not right, I remember last month didn’t she say she was going to start an XXX theme?】
Hua Luo also found it strange. Last month, Yu Wen said she would try another kind of theme, mentioning it several times on Weibo. This month she started a new story. Because of the Tang Yingxia matter, she felt disgusted and had never clicked on it, let alone knew what theme it was. Who could have thought they would collide?
Colliding was one thing, but to be told this in a private message on top of it, Hua Luo’s temper could no longer be suppressed.
Hua Luo: 【I’m angered to death!】8
Lu Zhenqiu ordered her a milk tea and a dessert, comforting her not to be angry. Xiao Yu also said: 【You better not post on Weibo to hang this person9. Who knows, this might be Yu Wen’s small account10. Once you hang her out, she’ll have a reason to cry, and it will even help her abuse a wave of fans11.】
Hua Luo rolled her eyes; it really was Yu Wen’s style. She took a deep breath. Xiao Yu sent: 【Get on your account, I’ll take you to play a few rounds.】
Playing games to shift her attention, that would work.
After blocking that account, Hua Luo logged into the game and sent to Lu Zhenqiu: 【Want to come for a few rounds? Last time I heard you and Teacher Jin cooperated with heavenly clothes and no seams12. I want to play games with Teacher Jin too!】
Lu Zhenqiu was humming a song when she saw the message, pausing for a moment: 【I’ll help you ask if she has the free time.】
Jin Shuilan had just gotten home when she received Lu Zhenqiu’s message. Get on the game? Playing a few rounds was fine. After replying to Lu Zhenqiu, she got on her account. Just then, a friend request from Lu Zhenqiu arrived. She returned to the study, her screen on, and in the bullet comments, many people were sending: 【Teacher Jin, Teacher Jin.】
She chuckled, seeing those fans sharing the livestream room. The heat13 was actually even hotter than just now. Lu Zhenqiu explained with a smile: “Teacher Jin is just playing for a little while, we won’t play for too long.”
【Wuwuwu, Qiuqiu I love you, I love love love you, I missed Teacher Jin playing games last time, this time I can finally see it with my own eyes!】
【Qiuqiu, add oil!14 Teacher Jin, charge, duck!15 Good fellow16, is this Teacher Jin’s first time in a linked-mic17 game with a voice actor?】
【That’s not it, Teacher Jin also often plays with Teacher Ji, and also with Nuannuan and the others. I’ve seen it on livestreams.】
【Is no one ‘ke’-ing this pair?18 I think they can be called the Tacit Understanding CP.19 This cooperative tacit understanding is invincible!】
Lu Zhenqiu had already entered the character selection page. The fifth person was a friend Xiao Yu had pulled in, a little sister whose speaking voice was very sweet, making people feel as if they’d eaten candy the moment she opened her mouth. The game began. Jin Shuilan still took the assassin, Lu Zhenqiu took the support, and the marksman was Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu said: “Our luck isn’t good, the opposing side is also a streamer team.”
And it was a rather famous streamer team that often did five-person queues20. In terms of tacit understanding, they were clearly more formidable. The opposing side recognized Xiao Yu and said hello in the all-chat channel. Xiao Yu replied with a smiley face.
The opposing side played very fiercely, very wildly. They came up with a strong offense, a four-protect-one routine21, sweeping from the top lane to the bottom lane and collecting three human heads. A magical opening. Jin Shuilan’s jungle area was also cleared until only two wild monsters remained. She never even got to touch the red and blue buffs. The opposing side pursued while their victory was fresh, pressing all the way to their second tower.
Xiao Yu pouted. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the signal Jin Shuilan sent: 【Hold steady, we can win.】
The others were all amused into laughter.
Lu Zhenqiu’s originally tense mood also relaxed. Jin Shuilan opened her mic and said: “Zhenqiu, follow me. Let me eat the experience alone. You three guard the home.”
Three guarding the home, they could still hold on. Jin Shuilan led Lu Zhenqiu and jumped into the grass. One moment she was leading the minion wave, the next she was stealing a tower, the next she saw a lone person on the other side and it was one slice of the knife. Lu Zhenqiu coordinated with her without snatching her economy, and Jin Shuilan’s economy shot up, ceng ceng ceng. The other side was fighting the dragon, she pushed a tower. The other side was team fighting, she pushed a tower. Ten minutes later, the other side had no choice but to split someone off to return and guard their tower. But like this, their four-protect-one routine was broken. Xiao Yu, who had been turtling at home for so long, couldn’t hold it in anymore, shouldering her cannon and chasing after the other side’s players with the mage.
When the opposing side’s crystal shattered, Hua Luo’s astonished voice came through the mic: “F#ck, we won!”
The bullet comments were also a huge sheet of 6666.22
【Teacher Jin——a heartless tower-pushing machine.】
【Heavenly-clothes-no-seams cooperation, truly worthy of being the Tacit Understanding CP.】
【Teacher Jin is so formidable, does Teacher Jin livestream games? I’ll brush you a Love Warship!】
Lu Zhenqiu looked at the bullet comments and sent to Hua Luo: “Is your mood a bit better?”
Hua Luo: “Mhm, much better. But Teacher Jin is really formidable, so handsome!”
Yes, just now that hero was played by her to the extreme. Instant equipment swaps. Several times Lu Zhenqiu thought she herself was gone23*, but Jin Shuilan could still lead her to kill their way out of the encirclement, emerging from the other side’s circle. Even now her heart was still thumping, *peng peng.*
Hua Luo: “Let’s play two more rounds, play two more rounds.”
Lu Zhenqiu had no opinion, and played a few more rounds with them. There were wins and losses. They played quite happily, and the bullet comments also brushed up to the sky24. There were many more people than when she usually just sang, and the interactions and gifts were also two or three times more. Especially when a round was won, the bullet comments could brush to fill the screen.
The moment Tang Yingxia entered her livestream room, she saw gifts flying to fill the sky. And the bullet comments. Sanshui was the platform with the greatest flow, and generally a livestream’s heat was based on the number of online viewing fans, as well as the value of gifts. Lu Zhenqiu was third in the entertainment section and had just been put on the recommended list, so Tang Yingxia didn’t need to search to see Lu Zhenqiu’s livestream room.
It was nearly 1,500,000 in heat again. Ever since Lu Zhenqiu started broadcasting, her heat had never dropped below 1,000,000, leaving those of the same period behind by a large chunk. Lou Yifengwen, who had been the most looked-upon-favorably at the start, didn’t even have one-tenth of her heat.
However, she had the buff25 of a newcomer cultivation recommendation, so her flow was a bit greater.
Tang Yingxia had just returned from an investment company, having signed two more projects. Now, everything, the dust had settled. The publicity for her publication was also launched at the opportune moment. For a time, her limelight had no second. Even the magazine agency’s boss said her pre-sales were already second only to Jin Shuilan’s.
Jin Shuilan again.
Tang Yingxia’s originally good mood was completely exhausted. She gritted her teeth and entered the livestream room, hearing Xiao Yu say: “Teacher Jin really could start livestreaming, her technique is too amazing.”
She clenched her phone tightly, watching the bullet comments brush past in a sheet of ‘Teacher Jin’. If she and Lu Zhenqiu hadn’t broken up, and went public now, then the screen would be full of her, God Xia!
This originally should have belonged to her!
Tang Yingxia’s heart would not die26. She was just about to send Lu Zhenqiu a private message, but then thought of the words she had said. The action of sending the message hesitated for a moment, then didn’t move. In the end, she brushed two gifts.
When Lu Zhenqiu read her name, she startled slightly, then her expression became calm, and as if nothing had happened, she read a bullet comment: 【Will you or will you not carry the boss in a game?】
She looked towards Tang Yingxia’s ID and said: “I am not a professional game streamer, I’m afraid I cannot carry the boss.”
“Alright, next I’ll sing for you all. What do you want to hear?”
“Teacher Jin? I don’t know, ai, she is probably not in the livestream room.”
Lu Zhenqiu’s voice was soft and gentle, like a spring breeze brushing the face. The fans in the livestream room were crying ao ao, saying they were extremely satisfied today, and Lu Zhenqiu could sing whatever she pleased. In the end, Lu Zhenqiu chose a song by Zhang Xin.
Jin Shuilan shrunk the livestream room and placed it at the very bottom, listening to the song as she began to revise her manuscript. Occasionally, she would lower her head to glance at the Lu Zhenqiu in the small screen, and the corners of her lips would lift in a smile.
It was a little past ten o’clock when Lu Zhenqiu finally ended her broadcast. She said her goodbyes to the livestream room and walked out of her room. Jin Shuilan also happened to be coming out of the study. She asked Lu Zhenqiu: “Do you need to change clothes?”
Lu Zhenqiu said: “No need, I think.”
Jin Shuilan nodded, went into her room and changed into a set of casual clothes before coming out, a cotton-padded jacket in her hand. The two went downstairs and a gust of wind blew over. Lu Zhenqiu couldn’t help but let out two sneezes. The weather this time of year was cool in the morning and evening, especially at night. The wind blowing on the body was chilling to the heart27. At home, Lu Zhenqiu had the heating on and didn’t feel cold. But coming out, once the wind blew, her whole person was about to freeze stiff.
She was wearing a knit shirt, which was especially permeable to the wind. Just as she stepped out the main door, a wave of cold air rushed to her face. Lu Zhenqiu was so cold she gritted her teeth, looking at Jin Shuilan’s car and estimating it would take several minutes to walk over.
It’s truly so cold, ah, cold to death!
Lu Zhenqiu walked with quick steps towards the parking spot. Suddenly, there was a weight on her body. She turned her head and saw Jin Shuilan draping the cotton-padded jacket over her shoulders.
The cotton-padded jacket blocked all the cold wind. Lu Zhenqiu’s heart-mouth28 immediately warmed up. She hurriedly wanted to take off the jacket, saying: “Teacher Jin, you yourself…”
“It’s not like I’m cold.” Jin Shuilan smiled. After speaking, afraid Lu Zhenqiu wouldn’t believe her, she even used her hand to grasp Lu Zhenqiu’s. The back of Lu Zhenqiu’s hand was pressed against Jin Shuilan’s palm; it was indeed warm and dry. Jin Shuilan said: “See? I’m not cold.”
Lu Zhenqiu nodded: “It is quite warm.”
Jin Shuilan said: “My constitution is good, I don’t get very cold even in winter. If you’re cold—” The roots of her ears hidden behind strands of her hair turned slightly red: “I can warm your hands for you.”
Lu Zhenqiu smiled: “It’s fine, it has pockets, I’ll put them in the pockets.”
Jin Shuilan said “oh” once.
Why did I have to bring a cotton-padded jacket with pockets, a miscalculation.
She curled up her hand. The two continued walking towards the car. With the cotton-padded jacket, Lu Zhenqiu was much warmer and no longer in a hurry to get there. On the way, the two chatted idly. Jin Shuilan asked: “Is your birthday arriving soon?”
Lu Zhenqiu tilted her head, letting out an ‘ah’, then nodded: “Mhm, how did Teacher Jin know?”
Jin Shuilan said: “Last time when we signed the contract, your identity card had your birth date on it.”
“Mhm.” Lu Zhenqiu said: “It’s soon.”
Jin Shuilan asked her: “Are you going back to your old home?”
Lu Zhenqiu shook her head: “I probably won’t go back.”
For several years now, her mother has only made a phone call on her birthday. She didn’t want to go back either, to see another family being loving and affectionate. Jin Shuilan said: “Then when the time comes, shall we go out for a meal together?”
Lu Zhenqiu said: “We can, ah. Can I invite Hua Luo and Xiao Yu?”
“Fine.” Jin Shuilan nodded: “Then I’ll bring Zibo along.”
Lu Zhenqiu smiled: “Mhm, when is Teacher Jin’s birthday?”
Jin Shuilan said: “Half a month after yours.”
Lu Zhenqiu turned her head: “November sixteenth?”
Jin Shuilan hummed in agreement, looking sideways at Lu Zhenqiu. She heard Lu Zhenqiu say: “Then aren’t you, by that logic, younger than me?” Her tone was relaxed: “Then you should call me Jiejie.”
Jin Shuilan said: “I am two years older than you.”
Lu Zhenqiu let out an ‘ah’, as if just now reacting to the age issue. She nodded. Jin Shuilan spoke again: “So, you should call me Jiejie.”
No faults.
Lu Zhenqiu tilted her head, looking at the clear-cut profile of Jin Shuilan’s side face, and called out with a smile: “Jiejie~”
She deliberately dragged out the final sound, her expression showing a rare mischievousness. Jin Shuilan clearly knew she was only joking, but her heartbeat wouldn’t quite listen to her commands; the more she suppressed it, the more frantically it clamored.
Jin Shuilan looked at Lu Zhenqiu. The streetlight fell into the base of her eyes, her pupils clear and bright, her pretty face carrying a smile, like a rose slowly blooming open in the dark night, eye-snatching and dazzling.
Her voice was slightly low as she said to Lu Zhenqiu: “Jiejie didn’t hear clearly, call out one more time.”
Lu Zhenqiu lifted her eyes, and with a smile: “Jiejie~”
Jin Shuilan clenched her hand, her body tensed, her throat-mouth29 growing itchy. Her sole remaining reason was in a tug-of-war with her impulse.
In this moment, she so wanted to hold Lu Zhenqiu, to be entangled to the death, hearing her call out ‘Jiejie’ again and again without cease…
The author has something to say:
Thirty red envelopes, muah muah da.
Jin Shuilan: Wife’s voice is so nice to listen to, her calling is also nice to listen to.
Lu Zhenqiu: ????
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